New York Gov. Hochul endorses Mamdani for NYC mayor

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul threw her support behind self-described democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani in a New York Times opinion column published Sunday. Despite some differences in their views, Hochul declared Mamdani should be mayor of New York City because he would stand up to President Donald Trump and work to make the city more affordable.

The endorsement was one of Mamdani’s biggest yet. He thanked Hochul on Sunday, saying she was helping him unify the Democratic Party and adding that he looked forward to working with her. Mamdani has no Democratic challenger in the mayoral race but faces two independent candidates who formerly ran as Democrats: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. Republican Curtis Sliwa is also jockeying for the position.

A New York Times/Siena poll of more than 1,000 voters from earlier this month showed Mamdani as front-runner with 46% of the vote. Cuomo trailed him in second place at 24%, while Sliwa had 15% and Adams 9%.

Didn’t something just happen in the Boston mayoral race? Democratic candidate Josh Kraft on Thursday suspended his campaign, leaving fellow Democrat and incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu without an opponent. Kraft said he would donate his remaining campaign cash to resolving what he described as a humanitarian crisis in a part of Boston known for drug use and homelessness. Unofficial totals from last week’s preliminary election showed that both Kraft and Wu qualified to advance in the race, but 72% of votes went to Wu.

Dig deeper: Read Kim Henderson’s report on Mamdani’s campaign goals.